(PNIC) – A new report has revealed the leading role played by top Israeli academics in promoting a growing international campaign that calls for boycotting Israel.

According to a report released Thursday by the Zionist group Im Tirtzu, prominent Israeli professors encourage, legitimize and often promote anti-Israel boycott efforts.

The report said dozens of Israeli academic figures, through petitions and letters, have encouraged the American Anthropological Association (AAA) to boycott Israeli higher academic institutions. They have urged the association to continue pressing for an academic boycott against Israel.

A vote on boycotting Israeli institutions will be held by the AAA’s 10,000 members on May 31. Should the resolution pass, it would mark the largest association to date to boycott Israel.

The report said that some of the Israeli signatories to the petitions are directly connected to the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign.

Meanwhile, Im Tirtzu’s CEO Matan Peleg has expressed concern about the growing trend among Israeli academics and professors to lead the academic boycott of Israel.

“Decision-makers and presidents of Israeli universities look to combat the international BDS movement, but completely ignore the boycott phenomenon from within Israel that is being led by Israeli academics,” Peleg said.

“It is sad to see that those leading the boycott are cutting off the branch on which they are sitting and are working behind the scenes to mortally wound the future of Israeli academia,” he added.

The developments come as more than 300 groups in Europe have recently urged the EU to hold Israel accountable for its human rights violations and join the BDS.

The BDS movement was initiated in 2005 by over 170 Palestinian organizations that were pushing for “various forms of boycott against Israel until it meets its obligations under international law.”

Thousands of volunteers worldwide have joined the BDS ever since to help promote the Palestinian cause.

Robert Fantina is an activist and journalist, working for peace and social justice. He writes extensively about the oppression of the Palestinians by apartheid Israel. He is the author of several books, including ‘Empire, Racism and Genocide: A History of U.S. Foreign Policy’.
Originally from the U.S., Mr. Fantina moved to Canada following the 2004 U.S. presidential election, and now resides in Kitchener, Ontario. Visit his web page at http://robertfantina.com/. Follow him on Twitter @robertfantina.